Promises
by BCG
Summary: Six months after the end of the 4th Shinobi War and Tenten has found it difficult to deal with the loss of her teammates. Then, she receives some unexpected guidance to help her keep her promise and she will help him keep his. Rated T for adult themes but rating may change later.
1. Chapter 1

******A/N: Anything in italics are thoughts and anything that is separated by a line is a flashback. I also made some changes to this chapter based on some feedback. **

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot. All characters come from the genius mind of Kishimoto.**

**Chapter 1**

This morning was a repeat of every morning since her return from the war. The alarm buzzed at 8:00 am. A sleep deprived Tenten dragged herself from her bed and slowly made her way into the bathroom. She didn't bother to look in the mirror anymore. She knew her eyes were droopy and bloodshot from crying herself to sleep. With a heavy sigh, Tenten undressed, turned on the shower full blast, and stepped in. Using the hot water as a shield, Tenten began to cry. Her thinning body was shaking violently as she slid down to the shower floor.

_Why? Why them? They were the strongest. It should have been me instead. I wish it was me._

She sat in the corner of her shower, her knees drawn up to her chest and her head resting on her knees; until she lost herself in her emotions. The water turned to freezing cold; and that was her only cue to end her tears and continue her daily routine. After she finished getting dressed, Tenten barely had enough energy to put her hair into one messy high pony tail. She couldn't bring herself to wear her signature buns. Gai-sensei always liked her hair that way.

"Tenten! Your beautiful hairstyle shows off your bountiful youth!" Gai had said this on their first meeting, followed by an enthusiastic 'nice guy' thumbs up.

Back then, Tenten could only give a nervous smile. Now, she would give anything to be called a youthful flower again. She felt anything but youthful. Her once shining big brown eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her girlish curves that in the past were hidden by her baggy clothes were now nonexistent from lack of eating and sleeping. She was wasting away and there was nothing she could do about it. In fact, she didn't want to do anything about it. She had lost all hope in life. She was a broken kunoichi. With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, Tenten quickly ate two slices of bread, placed some water and her scrolls in her bag, and left her small apartment, heading to the same place she visited every morning since her return to Konoha.

oOoOoOoO

It had been six months since the end of the war and nothing has changed. The hole in her heart left by the casualties just couldn't be filled. Everyone around her seemed to be moving on. Hinata had proven her strength and began preparations to become the next Hyuga leader. Naruto was now mentored by Tsunade so he could learn the less fun side of being Hokage. But the biggest disappointment was Lee. After the funerals, every morning she and Lee would meet up at the memorial stone to honor their fallen teammate and sensei. Slowly, as time moved on, so did Lee. Their daily meetings had changed to every other day, then once a week. And now, it was a lucky chance if Lee stopped by the stone at all. Tenten often wondered how he could just forget so easily. Two members of their family were gone. Gai-sensei loved them so much. Neji did as well, even if he didn't show it. Tenten knew he cared.

Despite Lee's lack of attendance in the past month, Tenten was shocked when he was not at the memorial stone. This was a special day. It was Neji's birthday. He would be 18 today. Since his 17th birthday was a disaster, Tenten had vowed to Neji that his 18th would be special.

* * *

**One year ago**

"Neji! Today you celebrate another youthful birthday. I promise this will be the best birthday, full of life and the power of youth!"

"YOSH! Gai-sensei you are so thoughtful to plan a wonderful day for our genius teammate!" Lee screamed as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Ah**,** Lee**,** I love your excitement as always! We shall begin this special day with 10 special birthday laps around Konoha. But we'll do it backwards! Then we shall begin the youthful celebration." Gai followed his speech with his patented nice guy pose.

"Oh, Gai-sensei, Gai-sensei. We should do 20 special birthday laps and do them 10 times faster!"

"Lee! My wonderful student. You have the fire and passion of youth burning within you. Let us begin!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Tenten winced at their extremely loud and over the top proclamations of youth. Neji's stoic face did not show how completely annoyed and angry he was with the abnormal duo. Tenten was unsure of what to do. She looked down nervously at her feet before she spoke.

"Um. Lee, Gai-sensei. I don't think Neji wishes to spend his birthday doing backwards laps around Konoha. He'd much rath—"

"Don't bother, Tenten. They're already gone." Neji walked over to the biggest tree in the field and sat down to meditate. He despised his birthday. Everyone made a big deal about it, but Neji saw it as just another day. He and Tenten have been teammates for years; he would even go as far as calling her his best friend. Surely she would understand that he did not want any fancy parties or gifts or anything out of the ordinary. He would have been more than satisfied spending time alone with her.

As Neji slipped deeper into his meditation, Tenten thought of ways to get him to the restaurant where Hinata was throwing his party. She could lie, but Neji always saw right through her. Or maybe, if she just asked him out he wouldn't ask too many questions. Letting out a deep breath, she took out a few kunai and proceeded to chuck them into a tree at the other end of the field.

"Neji. I know you aren't big into celebrations, but I was thinking… ," she paused, not sure whether to continue.

A somewhat annoyed Neji didn't bother to open his eyes when he spoke, "Thinking what, Tenten."

"That, um, maybe you and I could have dinner or something. Just for your birthday you know. As a gift."

Tenten was so nervous about his response; she wouldn't dare turn around to face him. She continued to concentrate on throwing her kunai at different points on the tree. She had no clue that Neji was equally surprised. He knew their relationship was more than just teammates and even beyond friendship, but they were not lovers. Neji knew Tenten developed feelings for him some time ago and he slowly began to develop feelings of his own. He wasn't quite sure where that left them, but they both had an unspoken agreement to never mess with the dynamic of Team Gai. Still, Neji was curious what this birthday dinner meant.

"Fine," was all he said. But that small response was enough to make Tenten blush with excitement.

Once in the restaurant, Neji immediately regretted his decision to have a birthday dinner with Tenten. He assumed it would be just the two of them, but no. All of the rookie nine, Sai, Gai, Lee, and Kakashi were all there. _Wait. Why is Kakashi here anyways?_ Neji wondered. It didn't take long for Gai and Lee to get into the sake. And after that all hell broke loose. Or to be more accurate, Gai and Lee broke loose and nearly tore the restaurant apart. A very perturbed Neji and equally annoyed Tenten spent the remainder of his birthday restraining and dragging a highly inebriated Lee back to his apartment while Kakashi took care of Gai.

"I'm sorry things ended like this. I'll make this up to you next year, Neji. I promise." Tenten's voice was so soft and full of regret, that Neji felt guilty that his unhappiness caused her to be upset.

"Hn**,**" was the only reply Neji could come up with. "Goodnight, Tenten. We will resume training tomorrow as usual." And with that, they went their separate ways. On his walk back to the Hyuga compound, the more he thought about the past 12 hours, the angrier he became. 'Happy birthday to me,' Neji thought as he entered his room and fell into his bed.

* * *

Tenten let out a deep sigh to calm her nerves. She tried to remain strong. She admired Neji so much that she never wanted him to see her tears. She could feel his spirit at the memorial stone. It was if he were there watching over her. This thought that he was so close but unobtainable made Tenten sick to her stomach.

"Happy birthday, Neji. You're probably having a good time with Hizashi-sama and your mother. I won't keep you for long. I just wanted you to know that I remembered my promise to make this birthday special for you. I'm sorry I let you down again, Neji. Please forgive me."

With those last words, a silent tear escaped Tenten's eye. Not bothering to wipe it away, she bowed before turning to walk towards their old training grounds.

oOoOoOoO

He waited for the young kunoichi to be completely out of view before jumping from his perch on the tree branch. Every morning he watched her come to the memorial stone. Some days she seemed to be okay and to be moving on. And other days it was too painful to watch. He understood her grief all too well. Only a lucky shinobi escapes the loss of a teammate. But for her to lose two at the same time seemed to break her spirit completely. Kakshi chose to avoid Tenten at the memorial stone, but today he realized that he hadn't kept his promise to his best friend.

* * *

**During the war**

"Gai! You shouldn't have used the 8-Gates."

"It's too late now."

Kakashi could barely make out his words. He knew what releasing the 8-Gates meant. He cursed himself for not being able to stop Madara before he lost another friend. No, not just a friend, his eternal rival.

"I need you… to look after Tenten." Gai's voice was laced with pain as he struggled to continue. "She has been like a daughter to me… I worry what will become of her."

Kakashi slowly nods his head. "So this means you win. 51-50."

* * *

Thinking about his friend's final request, Kakashi was ashamed that he had done the opposite. At first, he wanted to give her some space to grieve, but her grieving never seemed to end. He had allowed Tenten to hit bottom. Kakashi began to think about all of the shinobi that did not return from the war. Every one of them sacrificed their lives for the future of the village. He understood that Gai and Neji did what they did so that Tenten and the other Konoha shinobi could continue to protect the village. Kakashi had to reach her somehow.

"Gai. Whatever it takes, I will bring her back. I promise."

**A/N: This is my first time writing fanfiction as I'm use to writing short stories with completely original characters. Please tell me if anyone seems really OOC. Also any suggestions and constructive criticism will help make me better. Oh and I promise (ah see what I did there) that the entire story won't be so sad and dark as this chapter. Thanks for reading!**

**~BCG**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took forever to update. Thank you for everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, or favored. Also I need to send an extra thanks for my beta Maria Krause for helping me out. You're the best!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto characters or places, blah blah blah, only own plot, etc etc etc. **

**Chapter 2**

Thud!

Thud!

Tenten repeated the same warm up exercise so many times, she could do it blindfolded. Each kunai she threw landed dead center of every target.

_Right hand to pouch on right leg. Grab kunai. Adjust grip based on direction and wind speed. Throw. Bullseye. Repeat._

The motions were automatic to her. She didn't have to think about hitting the targets anymore. That was her specialty. It was also the one thing she never got tired of doing. An hour passed and then four more before Tenten is snapped out of her daze. She felt someone's eyes watching her from behind the trees. She immediately knew who it was. Even after all this time apart, his presence was still so familiar to her. Her momentary shock of the visitor was quickly replaced with annoyance. She just wanted to be alone so she stood there, hoping he could read the irritation seeping from her body and maybe he would just go away. But she knew better than that. Once he set his mind on something, there was no turning back. Tenten looked down at her hands covered in calluses, cuts, and blood from the hours of target practice. She concentrated on the scars, tracing every cut on her palms with her eyes until she was calm enough to speak.

"What do you want?" Tenten's words were soft and low, but dripping with anger and hurt.

"Tenten-san. It is Neji's birthday. I thought we could—"

"Why now? Because it's Neji's birthday? What about the past month, Lee? Where have you been this whole time? You left me. No, you left us!" She spun around and faced Lee. Her eyes were burning from the tears she tried so desperately to hold back. Rage took over. She had never felt this emotion towards her teammate. Lee was always like a naïve little brother to her. Until now, his innocence and determination made it difficult for Tenten to ever be mad at him. But this was such an egregious offense there was nothing he could say or do to appease her hatred for him.

Lee had never seen this side of Tenten. He knew she had every right to be angry, but he never had the chance to explain his actions. He couldn't stand going to the memorial stone. Every morning at the stone, he relived the entire war; not just the loss of his teammates. Lee began to find himself drowning in sorrow. He knew that Gai-sensei would not have wanted that for his precious students. So he slowly stopped going and vowed to honor his teammates in his own way. At first he tried to get Tenten to do the same. Every day he would try to break the routine by asking her to leave early with him or go to dinner. He even sent Sakura and Ino to Tenten's apartment several times to get her to do anything other than cry herself to sleep each night. He desperately wanted her to get on with her life and get back into doing missions. But nothing worked and he just couldn't drown with her. He knew he was wrong for the way he left. And the guilt ate at him every day. He knew today would be especially hard for Tenten and he hoped that she would let him in to comfort her again. If only she listened to his words.

"Please give me a moment to explain. I did not leave you but I could not return to that place. I wanted…"

Lee was barely able to speak before four kunai flew past his head nearly missing his face. Stunned, he just stood there in silence as several strands of his hair fell to the ground. He didn't even see her draw them from her pouch. He looked directly into her eyes. They used to be so full of life. Even when Tenten was upset at Neji or annoyed with Gai, she always had a certain gleam in her eyes. Now they were radiating something else. Was it sadness or hopelessness? No. Lee had seen that look in only one other person. Uchiha Sasuke. Lee couldn't help be feel responsible for her current state, but he didn't know what to do to save her.

Knowing Tenten never missed unless she wanted to, Lee realized there was nothing he could say at that moment to make her understand. He took heed of her warning and turned around to walk away. But something stopped him. He had to try again. He would not disappoint Gai-sensei. He will save his teammate. Lee turned to face her with renewed determination in his eyes.

"It was not me who abandoned our team. You're the one who forgot everything that Gai-sensei taught us. You're lost, Tenten. But I won't give up until I reach you. If that means I have to dodge 10,000 of your kunai then I will. If I cannot dodge them all, then I'll do 10,000 kicks! And if I can't do 10,000 kicks, I'll run 1,000 laps around Konoha…"

Tenten couldn't hold onto her anger while her boisterous teammate kept with his ridiculous declarations of youth. She was relieved that he was still the same Lee. Watching him jump up with excitement, Tenten couldn't help but to crack a small smile. _When was the last time I smiled, _she thought. She felt her body become lighter as she listened to him. She missed this. His child-like aura was incredibly contagious but it wasn't enough to fill the void in her heart.

Leaving Lee to continue with his list of consequences for not completing his task, she turned around and prepared to leave. Suddenly, two arms were wrapped around her tightly almost squeezing the air out of her lungs.

"Tenten-san. I know this is hard for you. But I promise things will get better and you will return to your youthful glory. It's what Gai-sensei would have wanted for us both."

Tenten's breath hitched with his words. She knew he was right. If Gai would have survived, he would have made sure Lee and Tenten would continue to work towards their dreams. She wanted to believe Lee. She wanted so desperately to let go but she just wasn't ready. Her eyes began to sting again as tears threatened to fall. She couldn't work towards her dreams without Neji. Ever since that day at the training grounds, he became an integral part of her dreams. She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath to steady her nerves.

"Thank you, Lee," the pain still prominent in her voice. She removed his arms and walked away.

Tenten was extremely conflicted by her feelings. A part of her hated Lee for being able to continue his life, but she couldn't help but be happy for him. Another part of her was jealous that she couldn't do the same. Deep in her heart she knew Lee cared, but she couldn't get past the constant emptiness she felt. Everything in Konoha reminded her of Neji. They would always meet at the little cart on the corner that sold the best dango and he would buy her one before and after practice. The cart owner gave Tenten a sad smile and nod as she passed by. Tenten could barely stand it. She didn't want to cry anymore. She was so sick of crying; so annoyed with feeling weak and helpless, but her eyes betrayed her once again as the tears began to fall. All of these emotions drained her completely of what little life she had left, but she continued the long walk back to her apartment.

oOoOoOoO

Kakashi witnessed the entire conversation between Tenten and Lee. He convinced himself he wasn't spying, but just doing research on how to approach her. He waited at his perch high in the tree until both Lee and Tenten were out of sight. Kakashi pocketed his worn and tattered copy of Icha Icha Paradise, jumped down from the branch, and proceeded to follow Tenten. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her as she was moving at a very slow pace. Kakashi could tell she was exhausted both mentally and physically. He knew the signs of depression very well, having witnessed many shinobi deaths over the years. He understood the pain of losing the person closest to you. Kakashi grieved forGai in his own way, just as he had for Jiraiya, Minato, Rin, Obito, and his father. He always came back a stronger shinobi because of them. He knew that somewhere in the darkness, the old Tenten still existed and he would do whatever he could to bring her back. He decided now was as good a time as any other to make his move.

A few quick hand signs and in a puff of smoke, the copy ninja appeared in front of Tenten.

"Yo."

Tenten was noticeably startled as she jumped backwards and instinctively grabbed a kunai from her pouch.

"K-Kakashi-sensei. Wha-what are you doing here?" Tenten immediately wiped the tears from her eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her so vulnerable and weak. She wasn't sure if it was the shock of Hatake Kakashi's sudden appearance in front of her, but something about him made her nervous. Her gazed shifted down as she stared at her feet.

Kakashi's visible eye closed as he smiled nervously and raised his hands defensively. "Well, I was on my way home from the Hokage's office and started thinking about life and I just wandered here. No need for the kunai, Tenten-san."

Tenten's eyes darted up to meet his. As she stared at him, completely confused by his actions, she didn't even realize she still had the kunai in her hand ready to be thrown. Nothing about what he said made any sense. She had never seen Kakashi around her neighborhood and was certain he did not live nearby. There had to be more to his story. She remembered hearing about how Kakashi would always make up strange excuses for his whereabouts, but she never thought anything of it before. Wild theories of the infamous Copy-Nin began swirling in her head. _Is he some kind of pervert? He does read those weird books. I hope he's not after me._

Tenten was well aware her greatest weakness as a ninja was her inability to control her facial expressions. She realized her thoughts must have been broadcast on her face when Kakashi stopped smiling and began to rub the back of his head. He appeared to be lost in thought while they stood there awkwardly, staring at each other for what seemed like hours until Tenten broke the silence.

"Well. I will leave you to your thoughts. Have a good night, Kakashi-sensei."

She quickly walked away to avoid any further conversation. She could still feel his gaze burning through her back. For some unknown reason, she felt uneasy around Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded as Tenten walked past him and disappeared.

"Well**,** that didn't go so well," he said to himself. Kakashi headed towards his apartment, deep in thought on what to do next. "This is going to be a bigger challenge than I thought."

**This chapter was a littler shorter than the first but I had to cut it off here or else it would last forever. So, what did you think? All feedback is welcomed.**

**~BCG**


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